The attic was just like any other attic. I am not sure what I was expecting. Did I expect it to be haunted by some spirit like many stories that I have read? I am not sure. Chuckling to myself, I took a tour around the huge attic. To be honest, this wasn't like any other attic; I believe. Let me tell you why.

This one was dust free, cobweb-free and arranged in order. It's true. There were many cardboard boxes stacked by name and date in order. There were old trunks in the corner and few toys on top of it. Otherwise, it was clean and clear.

I wondered how I am going to get the clue from here. This is not fun. The attic was huge; let me get that straight with vast area to be covered. There were no hidden panels or something that I can search through. With ample amount of sunlight coming from the windows in the attic, I could see the place clearly if you are wondering. It wasn't dark.

Suddenly there as a movement in the other corner, I quickly turned around to find a raven flying away through an open window. It's caws resonating through the attic like an echo. I walked closer to the window and closed it. I looked down and saw there was a car driving up to the driveway.

I have clear access to the sights around my house from the windows. So, that is why the attic was big with so many windows. It is used to spy the actions around the house. Thus, if there was any person here at all times monitoring the movements, they could have seen me going out at night every time.

Just then an idea clicked and I looked up and indeed, there were cameras positioned just in place to the windows to watch everything. Gosh, Tom was really serious about this thing. Well, being a mafia needs to be careful at all times, I believe.

How come the police or other intelligence agencies have not found this clan yet? I wondered as I looked around the place once again to find where the clue might be. I thought hard and looked more closely but couldn't find anything that stood out of this place.

Suddenly there was a creak and Annalisa was standing by the door looking stunned to see me in the attic.

"What are you doing here?" we both asked each other at the same time.

"Well..." I said.

"It's imperative that I clean the attic at all times and keep the windows polished. I do that every day after I clean the house." She said cautiously.

"Whose order is that?" I asked.

"Sam's order..." she said unsurely.

I scrunched my brows in confusion. "Why Sam... I thought it must be Tom," I asked unsurely.

"Apparently he keeps tabs on every proceeding with this house and if you have noticed there are cameras placed positioned to the windows which record everything. Its backup is stored with Sam and Tom doesn't have any access to it."

"What is happening in this house? God, sometimes I think I am living a high profile mystery novel." I chuckled.

"That you are. Now, tell me what are you doing here?"

"Ah, you might know the drama mom has caused me, in fact, yes you do. Now, that I have reached here is not only because Tom brought me here Anna, I am here because of the last letter mom said the next clue will be here, in this attic. But where do I find it? It's huge and nothing stands out of place."

Annalisa bit her lips hard and then looked at the cameras. One was pointed as if to monitor the insides, rotating to capture everything in the attic. She walked to it when the camera was pointed away and she using a handkerchief and popped something in the back of it and the camera stalled, showing no lights.

"Come here, I found this accidentally while cleaning the floors one day. It's a trap door leading to a small room. It's really small; you could only sit with the lid closed. I am not sure who uses this or why is this here, but it might do you some good. I don't know, I just thought I should tell you this."

"Thank you, will you wait till I search the place? Signal if someone comes." I said, suddenly blissful to find the secret compartment. My house is a mystery and I haven't found them all yet.

"Go on, no one will come at this time. But you have only an hour, so hurry up. I will be cleaning the windows." She said.

"I saw a car drive up not too long ago. Be careful and oh, how come you know how to switch it off; the camera?" I asked opening the trap door to find a small compartment. I can only sit there with my legs crossed if the door gets closed. It's going to be a tight fit. I looked at Annalisa to find her blushing. "Alright, alright, I think I get the answer. Geez, I can't believe you do that here."

"What? I don't have any other choice Lily, Jacob is awesome. I just wish if we could date like a normal person. Evelyn has set some rules and we are not to date fellow workers."

"I don't want to hear it. I need to find my clues. Plus, Evelyn can be a bitch at times. Don't worry; I am not going to disclose your secret. But, it's a mystery how you know to switch it off, you know. Last I checked; you were not the mechanical type to me."

"Jacob taught me."

"Ah, that explains it. I wonder if he is a thief." I said and got into the compartment.

Annalisa laughed and asked me to sit cross-legged. She showed me a light switch and I switched it on. As she closed the door, I was immersed in a blinding bright light which made it hot inside the cubicle.

To be honest, I was crammed without much space. I looked around to find nothing but solid wooden walls. But then, when I switched off the bright light and searched the walls with my mobile light, I could see the wall in front of me had a different texture.

I tapped it to find it hollow, unlike the other walls. Oh my God, if this belonged to my mother, she is a real genius though I really hate her. I slowly applied pressure to the wooden plank that looked different; not knowing what to do but to my surprise, it popped open slightly. I pulled the wooden plank slightly to find a small space; from there, an envelope fell down.

My last clue; hopefully, I exhaled deeply, sighing in relief.

I slowly pushed the door upward. But I couldn't open it. It seemed like there was someone standing on the door. When I tried to listen, I heard Annalisa talking to someone. My blood froze.

The door was made of solid wood and the walls were too, it might be the reason why I can't hear anything or the person might be standing far away from where I was. I realized it was a man's voice. I tried to keep as still as possible fearing the worse.

After a while, I mean after a while of sweating profusely, soaking my clothes from head to toe; the doors got opened to see a pale looking Annalisa. I felt chill enveloping me with the cool air.

"It was a close call. Sam came here unexpectedly. He just looked around, asked me a few questions and walked away. If you are finished, then quickly come out. I need to switch on that camera before he notices it," she spoke so quickly that most of it being jumbled words.

I got out, thanked her and walked away.

As I was walking to Tom's room there was a slight sigh coming from there which instantly froze me. Nonetheless, I walked in to see Tom coming out from his secret room with a smile.

"Did you actually think that I will let you walk away with what you did?"

"I know you are not stupid enough to do something like that and I know what I was about to do was going to be identified anyway. But I did it, sue me," I replied with a slight shrug.

He chuckled. "Did you get it?" he asked me leaning against the door frame. Oh my, I felt my eyes pricking with tears. Why did he have to betray me?

"Did I get what?" I replied back.

"Oh, don't fool me. I know you came willingly only because you have a job here otherwise you would have escaped somehow." Tom said with a chuckle.

"I didn't find it though it says it's here," I replied.

"Hmm," he was lost in thoughts.

"Tom, be honest, what is the meaning behind this?"

"Come... sit," he entered his room and I got in, sat on the couch while he sat on the bed. "Your mother didn't have to take something valuable from me in the first place lily, well she did and now you are screwed." He smiled.

"I wasn't asking about what she did. I am asking about why now and why me?"

"It's... it's a game she played."

"What?"

"You know, your mother and I go way back. We were friends with a naughty history. She is the only one who knows about my dreams and desires. She played by that."

That is news to me. "What, screwing me when I am just starting to live?"

"No, screwing 'me' in a very tight fit unable to escape."

"I don't understand."

"You are not meant to. Listen, pumpkin, before I chose this path, I had dreams which she knew, which was a mistake from my side to tell her and she played it really well. You see, ah, she took the documents as a game from me to prove her worth. She negotiated games with me to prove that I mean what I said."

"You are confusing me."

"There is a lot of history behind what you are going through. Just know this; your mother played a game using you to make me kneel down before her."

"What games? God, at least now can you fully trust me and tell me."

"DO you think I don't trust you? Come on, Lily, I trust you and that is the only reason why you are staying alive like this. Do you think a girl like you, no matter how intelligent limbs you have, can survive the wrath of a mafia that rules, America, Europe, Italy, a part of Russia Germany, Norway and Australia?"

"And you are the chief?"

"To our country, Norway, Italy, and Germany," he replied proudly.

"Ah, so your point is?"

"My point is lily, without me looking for you, you will be fried or underneath the Nile or Pacific by now. You have no idea who the people behind you are to retrieve the documents. They don't want to get on my bad side and that is the only reason why you and your mother are alive. Oh, your mother... she is a boss of her own clan and she is feared by many."

"I don't really understand this mess. So, you and my mother go way back and both of you are mafia heads to a big underworld clan and... she played a game with you, and you are playing by her rules. So where do I come in?"

"You come in between me and Eva to save you from the goons that declared will kill you when they came to know you are Evangeline's daughter. This document is just an excuse but also important."

"I don't understand, please, make me understand."

"Evangeline had to wash her hands with many small leaders, and their children's blood while dealing with certain proceedings. She is known as the underworld devil which she earned the name by proving her worth. She is feared by many. Her partner Peter and Evangeline have an even large clan that could overcome mine with force but we are going in a mutual understanding. Look, this world is big and bad and you don't have to know about it all. Eva doesn't mind if the documents come back to me. She just wants to play me."

"Why choose me then?"

"Like I said, many wanted to kill you once they knew she has a daughter. So, she stole the document from my clan head office, put that on your head and negotiated to not get you killed as you can only find the documents apart from her. Once you attain the right age, you would have been trained into a better warrior by me, so that you can take care of yourself. I am not the bad guy pumpkin."

"I am really confused."

"Lily, Evangeline made many enemies who want you dead. She put you in my custody because many of my branch leaders wanted you and her dead. So, with you in my hands, they wouldn't dare hurt you. Understood?"

"Alright; but if that is the case, she shouldn't have put the document into my hands, I believe the first clue was with you. You could have opened it."

"That won't work. That clue and the ones after that needed your fingerprint to get opened."

"I don't think the kid fingerprint of mine would have worked now."

"You don't understand. She is around us. It's true that the last time I saw her was when she delivered you. Then, the threats started and she had the documents by then and put a negotiation out in public making us all tongue-tied. You were safe by then in my custody. She had time to meet you in between I believe. She is cunning and brave. You should be proud."

"I am not proud of a mother who chooses to be an animal and kill and become powerful."

"You don't understand. Mafia doesn't mean they are animal savagely killing people. We chose this because of too many circumstances."

"I don't want to hear it. What can I say, I think it would have been awesome if people had killed me back then when I didn't even know the world could be this twisted and cruel."

I walked out from the room even though Tom asked me to wait. With the new found information's, I am really fuming to kill my mother who thought it would be nice to game Tom keeping me as a bait.

When this is all over, no matter how cunning and brave she is, I am going to kill her.

________________

So much, so much, so much going on and we are reaching nowhere.... What will be there in that envelope? Next clue or a letter alone?

Tune in to find out.

Was this chapter confusing?

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Have a nice day.